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Mostranos
Mostranos is one of the Human Kingdoms in the Golden Land. ''Mostran kings are probably the most memorable of all kings in the Golden Land, and that is quite an achievement. - Gerotus, Hadank historian'' History of Mostranos The Pact of the Desert - 6004 AC Before forming Mostranos, the Great Desert was a habited by men who were living as nomads, wandering a long the coast of the desert. It is said that the first men in the Golden Land are from these nomadic tribes. Some of these tribes would end up in the High North, where the nations of Bankur and Skardonia lay. It was only until 5724 AC, when the city of Astodan was built. This year would go down in men's history as The Beginning of Civilisation. It wouldn't take long until other cities were built, most notably Lachzan and Tehrur. These cities were wealthy and thanks to great agriculture skills, the cities would rarely suffer from starvation. Life in the desert wasn't all positivity, the cities often got harassed by raids of the desert orcs of Zkaz-Bhul-Ankor. It was Achdar, the military general of Astodan, who came up with the plan to unite the cities of men, to fight against the orcish threat. The cities would unite in to the nation of Mostranos, based on the two gods Mos and Tranos. A new capital would be built after the orc problem was taken care off. The pact was signed by the three cities in 6004 AC, after seven years of debate. Achdar became the leader of the nation, forming an army of extremely well armoured horsemen, who would be known as the Cataphracts. ''Achdar wasn't a clever man at all, he was just the first one who came up with an actual idea. - Gerotus, Hadank historian'' The First Expansion - 6022 AC The first expansion began 18 years after the arrival of humans in the Golden Land. Achdar's goal was to build a capital even bigger than Astodan, where he could build a palace worthy for him to live in. It wouldn't take long until he arrived in an orcish village, Gor-Dal-Kaldor. Achdar wasn't charmed by the habits of his those who raided his cities. The local garrison had no chance against the armoured horsemen. Thousands of orcs were killed off and the Cataphracts left nothing but ash and blood behind. The village of Gor-Dal-Kaldor was no more. Word shortly arrived to the tribe leader of the orcs about the strangers sitting on even stranger creatures. Fortnak Toothless refused to believe that the men of the cities would actually raid them. Many more raids would follow until the Cataphracts reached the captial of Zkaz-Bhul-Ankor, Boz-Ztak-Kaldor. The city was quite huge, even for Achdar's standards. Even the well experienced Cataphracts were no match for the huge army stationed in Boz-Ztak-Kaldor. Achdar knew he stood no chance if he would start a siege so he returned to Astodan, and started recruiting an actual army. The Cataphracts would become the elite cavalry, while the infantry line were mostly axe- and pikemen. Achdar even trained war elephants, so he could bash down the walls without having to climb the walls. With an army of approximately 3.000 men, Achdar started the Siege of Boz-Ztak-Kaldor. The battle went quick, Fortnak's choatic force had more numbers, but Achdar's army was more organised and disciplined. Fortnak, who wasn't a very brave orc either, fled the city and many of his units followed. Fortnak fled to the north of the desert where he would spend the rest of his years, left alone by the terrifying creatures. Shortly after the battle, Achdar started rebuilding Boz-Ztak-Kaldor in to Alashkert. By 6026 AC, Achdar managed to conquer pretty much the entire desert, and the once so great faction of Zkaz-Bhul-Ankor was now settled in the Dry Mountains up north. Achdar hoped for a golden age in Mostranos, but the opposite happened. War of the Cults - 6029 AC Religion was and still is of utmost importance for the people of Mostranos. It gave people hope in dark times and united the people under one banner, yet this unity would shortly fall apart. There were two main cults in Mostranos, the cult of Mos, God of darkness and the cult of Tranos, god of light. Achdar thought that two main cults could separate the people of Mostranos, something that he couldn't afford. Achdar, who was a high priest of the cult of Tranos himself, wanted his cult to be the main religion of the nation, mainly because it was the cult most popular with the people. However, Arif Achmallad, general of the grand army was a high priest of the cult of Mos. The army existed mostly out of men who saw Mos as the main God, not Tranos. Achdar had a dilemma, if he chose the cult of Tranos he would get trouble with his army, but if he chose the cult of Mos, he would never be able to get the masses behind him. Tension rose even further when a mass starvation was about to commence. The harvesting season was the worst season ever in Mostranos' history. For the first time ever, Achdar was about to face an actual major problem that he couldn't fix with blade wielding. The people of Alashkert were mad, their king wasn't there to help them now in times of desperate need. Things got even worse when Arif Achmallad took full control of the army without Achdar's consent. Achmallad built a fort right at the border of Mostranos where his men could reside until the trouble was over in Alashkert. After that, he would take full control of Mostranos by force, kicking Achdar off the throne and making Mos the main God of Mostranos. However, Achdar saw this retreat as a way to unite the people against the army and luckily, it did. Achdar wasn't very clever but he was charismatic. He convinced the people to rise up afainst Achmallad and the cult of Mos. This retreat was nothing more than another show of the cult's weakness. And so it was that more than 500.000 men and women marched down to 'Fort Mosandr' armed with nothing more than torches and pitchforks. Achdar only forgot about one thing, he never saw Fort Mosandr with his own eyes. Fort Mosandr wasn't just an average fort, its walls were huge and pretty much unclimbable, with even taller towers that almost reach the clouds. Things got even worse when Achdar found out that Fort Mosandr was equipped with only one gate. 500.000 peasants facing up to 4.000 well armed soldiers, marched down to the one and only gate. It wasn't a pleasant sight, hundreds of people getting shot down by many arrows, people getting run over by others and to make it even worse, boiling oil right coming out of the gates' roof. What happened afterwards was even bloodier. Peasants desperately slaughtering armed soldiers one by one. The grand army didn't stand a chance against the anger of the people and after a short but bloody battle, the grand army surrendered. Those who survived were forgiven by Achdar, mainly because he had to rebuild his entire army up from scratch again. Arif Achmallad didn't get too much mercy though, Achmallad got lynched by the masses who could still stand on their feet. It wasn't a pretty sight, pieces of his body parts and organs would later be sold on the markets of Alashkert and Astodan. The cult of Tranos was victorious, Achdar united the people, but the starvation didn't stop. The so called Great Starvation would last until 6031 AC. A New King - 6035 AC Four years went by with nothing except peace and prosperity. Achdar became an old and tired man after the cult war and the starvation. He started suffering from dementia which is why he refused to give the throne to his son. Simply because Achdar didn't know who he was. In his last days he trusted no one but himself. It ended with Achdar sitting on his throne for days without earting or sleeping. He died at the age of 58. It was now Turak I who with his 17 years of life experience, had to lead Mostranos. Turak I was nothing better than his father. He was without doubt the craziest king Mostranos has ever seen. At the age of 18, he already had 3 children, and he would end up having 14 of them. Turak I was however the first one to contact with its human neighbors... A Strange Meeting - 6037 AC The people of Mostranos weren't the only humans living in this world. There were many people who arrived in the desert, but not all of them stayed in Mostranos. Loads of them decided to move to more fertile places. This neighbouring nation's name was Storbania. In the 40 years that passed, Storbans and Mostrans never got in contact with each other. Turak I wanted to have a meeting with the Storban king Seon Storm, so that he'd know what he would be dealing with, if the two would ever get in to conflict. Seon however, had trouble in the north-east of Storbania, so he sent a deputy, Gulfir Radon, with 6 Storban knights to protect him. The meeting was in Fort Mosandr, since it was so close to the Mostran-Storban border. Turak wasn't very pleased at all with the fact that Seon sent a deputy instead of himself. Instead of having a conversation, Turak decided to take Radon as hostage. Turak ordered a raven to be sent to Storbania, where the following was mentioned: ''It saddens me that you were not able to come to Fort Mosandr, instead you decided to sent a deputy. Am I, leader of these dry lands, not worth your time? Am I nothing but a helpless trader to you? I am deeply disappointed about your lack of respect to the Second King of Mostranos, which is why my men took your deputy hostage in Fort Mosandr. If I do not see you in the upcoming future, I might aswell cut his throat. I layed the pieces, and you may make the first move. I suggest we'll meet each other sooner than you thought. - Turak I's letter to Seon Storm'' War of the Meeting - 6038 AC After losing the region of Trovska, Seon Storm decided to take action against the fool who captured a man of the Empire. He marched with an army of approximately 5.000 men to Fort Mosandr, where he would lay siege and try to liberate Gulfir Radon. Turak I was a crazy King, but not a dumb one. He expanded his army to 8.000 men and made them all reside in Fort Mosandr. Turak was looking forward to the siege, finally he would be able to get some blood on his sword. The siege however lasted longer than he thought it would. Two years passed where Turak had to wait until the enemy would act. He was locked up in the fort, and had no control of what was happening in Astodan or Alashkert. He did however make Fort Mosandr in to a proper functioning city, with a temple, a market and homes for the soldiers to live in during the siege. Finally, in 6040 AC, Seon Storm started an offense on the fort's walls and gate. Seon built siege towers that could easily assault the high walls, which is why most of the fighting happened on the walls. Turak would shortly face a problem, his men including himself have never fought a real battle. Turak didn't know how to properly command his army, while the barely experienced soldiers were struggling to fight in tight spaces, like walls and towers. Seon, however was an experienced general, he knew how to lead an army to victory. These factors made Turak concede a crushing defeat. Turak managed to escape, but nearly 6.000 Mostrans were killed in battle, while another 500 were captured and later executed. Fort Mosandr got completely raided by the Storban army, but they were never able to rescue Gulfir Radon. Turak cut Radon's throat right before fleeing Fort Mosandr, making the battle useless for both sides. Seon Storm, who lost around 2.000 men, burned down the fort and returned back to Storban lands. This wouldn't be the last confrontation between Storbania and Mostranos. Military Reform - 6051 AC Turak I wasn't pleased with the army's response to the siege. Turak thought of creating a new, better and technologically advanced army. During a meeting in Fort Mosandr, Turak discussed the possibilities of new units with his generals. The army would become one well-disciplined force under the lead of Kachad Mowa, who got the title of Grand General. Mowa and Turak thought of many new ideas to use in the newly titled Grand Army. They introduced pikemen in the main infantry line, to cope with cavalry, an elite archer unit, to deal with any charges, chariots to cause chaos within the opponent's force and they reintroduced the war elephants. The elephants weren't used ever since the First Expansion. The war elephants were heavily armoured, comparable to a cataphract, on top of the elephant stood two archers who could fire upon troops, who were bothering the elephants from tight angles. The elephants would become one of the most powerful and feared units in the Golden Land. The Military Reform was a succes. Turak and his ancestors would win many battles thanks to the newly introduced units. Mostranos would eventually become a major military power in the Golden Land. There was only one problem, there wasn't enough gold for the military innovations. Advisors resigned from performing the reform, but Turak, as always, didn't bother to listen. The reform happened, but chaos arised in Mostranos. With no gold left, taxes were increasing. Due to the poor harvesting season, food prices were rising up aswell. The people weren't happy, and started protesting. They demanded food and health, but Turak didn't bother. He responded by ordering his archers to fire upon the masses who were protesting on the market plaza. Many people got wounded by the arrows, those who couldn't run were killed of or taken prison by the Alashkert Elite Guard. Turak knew he couldn't stay in Alashkert, so he moved with his family to Fort Mosandr, which was rebuilt after the War of the Meeting. Alashkert was turning in to a chaotic mess, with no army or king, the city was turning in to a crime center. The Thieves Guild had taken control over the palace. The city's laws were no more now with the Thieves Guild in control. Meanwhile, Turak was slowly going even more insane than he already was. He lost control of the capital and the economy had fallen, there was nothing he could do. Out of frustration, he eventually strangled his wife to death and threw two of his children of the walls of Fort Mosandr. When even the army refused to listen to Murat's orders, he went totally insane, and eventually, jumped of the walls himself. This was the end of the Second King of Mostranos, 6056 AC. Utter Chaos - 6056 AC Turak II, being only 21 years old, was now in charge of a nation torn apart by starvation, economical crisis and a Storban threat coming from the east. Turak's first action were to take back the capital of Alashkert, which has been in control of the thieves' guild ever since his father left the city. Turak arrived in a city that was nothing compared to what it used to be. The streets were disgusting, there were no people outside, houses looked abandoned. It didn't take too much trouble for Turak to recapture the city, since the thieves were cowards when they had to face an actual thread. After this short struggle, Turak tried to rebuild the economy, but was too dependent on his advisors, who weren't used to someone actually listening to them. The influence of the advisors became so high, that some people spoke of an aristocracy, rather than a monarchy. It took some time, but eventually, in 6064 AC, Mostranos was back to being a stable nation. During this rebuild, Turak tried to get better diplomatic relations with Storbania, by establishing trade routes and non-agression pacts. Turak also started relations with Hadankaikos, Elpendra and even managed to contact the orcs of Zkaz-Bhul-Ankor. Turak II is considered to be the best king of Mostranos by various historians, mainly because he wasn't insane and didn't start any needless wars. Mostranos started to be a stable nation with a thriving economy. Poverty and hunger decreased, while the population got a boost. The peace and prosperity lasted quite long, until a new Storban king arrived, who was longing for more power... Second Mostran-Storban War - 6079 AC Seon Storm died at the age of 90 and his son, Kender Storm wasn't very charmed by Storbania's western neighbour. He called the Mostrans pesky little skaven and nothing more than fodder. His hate for Mostrans wasn't the only reason to march to war, Kender thought the Storban religion was the perfect and only relevant religion in the Golden Land. He had to spread the word of Stormai throughout the entire known land. World domination was his eventual goal, power, religion and power were the main drives of the second Mostran-Storban war. After occupying Trovska, Kender started marching up to Fort Mosandr, were the first battle would commence. Turak II wasn't prepared for a Storban attack, even though he knew Kender was a crazy lad. The second siege of Fort Mosandr was anything but exciting battle. Kender took the fort without much resistance, outnumbering the Mostrans with 10 to 1. Lachzan fell to the Storbans only a year later. Kender's next goal were the Great Pyramids, two pyramids dedicated to Mos and Tranos, built during Achdar's reign. The pyramids had to be taken down, in order to let the word of Stormai prevail. Turak knew he had to put a stop to the invasion, otherwise two iconic landmarks would get lost. Turak marched out to meet the Storbans on the field pretty much next to the Great Pyramids. 25.000 Mostrans were going to face 30.000 Storbans. Turak was outnumbered but he did have one massive advantage, elephants. It was the first time that the war elephants were going to be used in an actual battle. The Storbans had never seen elephants in their lives, neither have they seen a heavily armoured one with archers on its back. The battle went quite even, until the elephants charged in. The Storbans stood no chance against the panic-causing creatures and many fled the battle before the elephants even layed their first hit. The Storban army had lost the battle and their king, Kender Storm, who got impaled by an elephant's tusk, while charging in to the mayhem with his cavalry units. The Battle of the Great Pyramids resulted in a Mostran victory, with 9.000 casualties for the Mostran side, to 20.000 casualties for the Storbans. The war wasn't over though, Lachzan and Fort Mosandr were still under Storban control. Especially Lachzan was a complicated situation, because the gate of the town was too small for elephants to get through. So Turak took Lachzan the old-fashioned way, break down the gate and charge in with the Cataphracts. While they didn't have the intimidation impact of elephants, they were still very powerful and difficult to kill. Turak only lost around 200 men during this battle, while the Storbans lost around 1.000. Fort Mosandr was the only city left to retake, which was occupied by 2.000 Storbans, who didn't leave Mostranos after the Battle of the Great Pyramids. However, Turak and his army were tiring themselves out after fighting two major battles. Turak held station for a couple of months at Lachzan to take a break. Eventually, Turak marched out to Fort Mosandr with around 5.000 men. The Third Siege of Fort Mosandr was yet another minor struggle. The Cataphracts and elephants were doing their job well and the 2.000 Storbans stood no chance. Only 300 Storbans were killed in battle. Turak was faithful and let the remaining men return to their homeland. The Storban invasion was stopped, and so ended the Second Mostran-Storban War, after six years of fighting. Age of Peace - 6085 AC The nation of Mostranos went through an age of peace and prosperity after the war. The diplomatic relation with Storbania wouldn't improve, but Mostranos did improve their relations with other nearby factions, like the people of Hadankaikos, the elves of Elpendra and even the pirates of Bankur. Turak II, now at the age of 50, was a king loved by the people. Some historians even dare to call him the best king Mostranos has ever had. Turak's positive effect on the nation would last for many years, until he peacefully died at an astonishing age of 82. Turak II got a statue built in Alashkert after his death. This made him the first and only king of Mostranos who got a statue after passing away. His son, Qorthar was now in charge. While he wasn't a great leader, he did try to do the best for his people. Sadly enough, people saw that Qorthar wasn't as strong as his father. He would, however, keep order in the nation until the city of Alashkert and Astodan were going to meet their fate... The Raid of a Nation - 6121 AC Four major cities of Mostranos were settled across the coastline; Astodan, Tehrur, Tragidan and Shirabat. The fleet of Bankur was well known for their raids, yet defensively, the coastal cities were poorly defended. Qorthar thought that the Bankur's would never sail that far away from home, but they did. The first raid was at Shirabat, thousands of people were killed and the local army stood no chance against the fierce force of the Bankur raiders. Qorthar did not act, with the hope that this raid would be an exception. But he was wrong. Tehrur and Tragidan met their same fate shortly after the first raid. The people of Astodan, who knew what was coming for them, demanded the king to act. Little did they know, that the steward of Astodan, Ochrad Razna, had good relations with the Bankur chieftains. Qorthar got told by Razna that reinforcements weren't needed. With the lack of wit, Qorthar listened to Razna. Astodan had to prepare themselves for one of the biggest raids in Golden Land history. Razna gave crucial weak spots of the city, and even gave the locations of the keep where the civilians would go to in the case of emergency. Astodan was on fire and nearly half of the citizens were slaughtered. Razna, who expected a royal payment, got his throat slit. Traitors shouldn't be rewarded was said before Razna met his doom. Qorthar, who was horrified by the news, decided to step away from the throne, and fled to Hadankaikos. Kairat was crowned king of Mostranos, a nation torn apart. The Age of the Empire 6121 AC - 6162 AC The Grand Army The army of Mostranos was a chaotic force until Turak I's military reform in 6051 AC. Nowadays, The Grand Army is an organised and well-disciplined force to be reckoned with. The year shown next to the unit is the year when the unit got introduced. Infantry 'Mostran Footmen 6024 AC '- The Mostran Footmen are the main force line of the Mostran army. They are armed with a curved sword and a round wooden shield. They used to wear leather clothes and wore a tulban, until the military reform. Today, they're equipped with a chain mail chestplate, shin guards and a helmet made out of iron. 'Mostran Spearmen 6024 AC '- The Mostran Spearmen are mostly used as town watch, armed with a spear and a rectangular wooden shield. They used to be part of the main infantry line of Mostranos, until the Pikemen were introduced during the military reform. Because they are town watch, spearmen aren't as heavily armoured as other infantry units. They still wear leather clothing, but their helmets are made out of iron. 'Mostran Pikemen 6051 AC '- The Mostran Pikemen were introduced during the military reform. They are the most feared infantry unit by enemy cavalry. Turak I didn't think of the idea himself, since pikemen were already used in the army of Hadankaikos. Pikemen wear chainmail armour, shinguards and a gold painted helmet, while being equipped with a large spear and a gold painted, rectangular, wooden shield. 'Alashkert's Elites 6029 AC '- Alashkert's Elites are the elite infantry unit of the army. They were introduced right before the war of the cults, as a bodyguard for Achdar. Nowadays, they're used as bodyguard and as infantry during major battles. Alashkert's Elites are heavily armoured, comparable to a cataphract. They fight with a large sword and a yellow black painted, round shield. Their helmet has a large plume with a yellow and black colour, while they also wear a yellow cape to gain respect from the other soldiers in battle. Missile Units 'Mostran Javelinmen 6004 AC '- The Mostran Javelinmen were the skirmish units used in the early days of Mostranos. They barely get used in modern battles, since they are mostly used for hunting. Javelinmen are equipped with a large javelin, a small round wooden shield and wear leather padded armour. 'Mostran Archers 6024 AC '- After recognising the shortcoming of the javelinmen, Achdar replaced them with proper archers during the First Expansion. Mostran archers are still used in the modern Grand Army. The archer's biggest weakness, is that they're extremely vulnerable when they get involved in actual combat. The archers are light armoured, equipped with a wooden bow, arrows and a curved sword to defend themselves with. During the Military Reform, the archer learnt to use fire arrows in battle, to lower the morale of the opponent. 'Alashkert's Archers 6051 AC '- Turak didn't ignore the vulnerable skirmishers during the Miltary Reform. Turak wanted an elite archer unit, that would be amazing at archery and capable of putting up a fight in direct combat. Alashkert's Archers were the answer to his demands. Alashkert's Archers lead the main skirmish line in battle. They are meant to protect the standard archer unit from any incoming charges. The archers are heavily armoured, wear a pointy iron helmet and have a more agile bow.